Replacing diesel school buses with electric buses helps improve air quality, save money for school districts, and reduce carbon emissions. State and federal funding for school bus electrification is becoming more common, and Minnesota is no exception. To encourage Minnesota school districts to adopt electric school buses and use vehicle electrification as a teaching tool that can be embedded into the school’s curriculum, the Minnesota Department of Commerce is administering grants for districts to purchase electric school buses and necessary charging infrastructure. At TKDA, we can help school districts through full-cycle zero emission from grant applications to infrastructure installments and ongoing maintenance. 

What do you need to know?

Funding: The State has allocated $13 million for school districts to purchase electric school buses and necessary equipment. Public School Districts, Tribal contract schools, and other eligible applicants representing them may apply for funding. Funding is awarded based on financial need and prioritization criteria. Additionally, funding from this grant is stackable with federal funding for electric school buses.

Eligible Expenses: Grant funding can be used to pay for electric school buses, charging infrastructure, and purchase administration.

Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants for the grant program include independent school districts, special school districts, tribal contract schools, electrical utilities applying on behalf of the school district, electric vehicle service providers on behalf of the school district, and transportation service providers applying on behalf of the schools district.

Act Now: Applications for grant assistance are due by December 17, 2024, meaning school districts must start taking steps now. These steps include:

• Visit the Minnesota Department of Commerce website to learn more about the grant program and submit your application

• Provide information such as scope of work, timeline, electric school bus quantity and description, intended routes, electric vehicle charger description, charger locations, and total requested amount

• Submit your application before December 17

How can TKDA help?

Our in-house team of engineers, architects, planners, and specialized experts is passionate about enhancing your schools. Woven together, our multi-disciplined team has a diverse portfolio of experience working with K-12 schools and an in-depth knowledge of maintenance and fleet spaces. Our projects are tailored to your individual needs so we can provide the most cost-effective solutions. By building on a foundation of collaboration, we work closely with outside partners to cover full-cycle services, which we can provide directly to schools and their partners. We support our education clients with the new grant program by working with a grant writer to secure funding, installing electric vehicle chargers, and providing ongoing maintenance.

When is the deadline?

Applications for the grant program are due by December 17, 2024, and work is expected to begin on February 10, 2024.

We look forward to helping Minnesota schools accelerate their adoption of electric school buses.